My Warming Spicy Chicken Casserole

This is a delicious, modern take on a chicken casserole. I find in life, you have to take risks, and this is what I did with this recipe. I had doubts on whether it would be really tasty or the flavour combinations wouldnt go well together at all. But it pulled off. This is going to be a firm family favourite in our household. One that we can cook on a cold night to warm ourselves up with a deliciously satisfying spicy casserole. I served it with long grain rice and petit pois as these compliment the dish greatly.

Ingredients

Olive oil

10 chicken thighs, skin and bones removed, cubed

4 spring onions, chopped

3 carrots, chopped into cubes then halved

Large bunch of tarragon

1tbsp five spice powder

150g green lentils, pre-soaked that just need boiling

500ml chicken stock, I used Kallo organic cubes

½ lime, zest of

1 fresh bay leaf

Method

1)      Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/180 fan/gas mark 5.

2)      Fry the cubed chicken in a glug of olive oil in a ovenproof casserole dish until slightly sealed. Remove from the pan.

3)      Fry the spring onions with another glug of oil along with the carrots and tarragon for 1-2 minutes. Then return the chicken to the pan, alongside the five spice. Give everything a good stir.

4)      Whilst the casserole ingredients are frying, put the lentils in a medium saucepan and fill the pan with cold water until it just reaches the top of the lentils. Don’t add salt it impairs the flavour. Bring to the boil, then once boiling, reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes until slightly soft, with a tiny bit of chew to them. It sounds strange not cooking them until very soft, but if they cook completely before stewing, they go to mush in the casserole.

5)      Go back to the casserole dish and add the hot chicken stock to the pan along with the lime zest and bay leaf. Simmer for 5 minutes.

6)      Put the lid on the casserole dish and place in the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

7)      Whilst the casserole is in the oven, stir the lentils. Once cooked, drain, and remove from the heat.

8)      After 30 minutes of the casserole in the oven, take the pan out of the oven, and put the lentils in. Stir well and season with sea salt and black pepper. Then place back in the oven for 1 hour.